A Home To Return To
by Yakubi
Summary: Heero and Duo end up meeting after the war. Seeing his fellow pilot's almost starved state Heero decides to help Duo. The two see that they both needed a friend, even though on occasion they might drive each other nuts. Eventual lemon. Dead.
1. Chapter 1

This is a Heero and Duo fan fiction. There is a lemon-y fresh smell about this story if you get my drift.

So you know, there's some Japanese in this story, I did my best, but if you notice some mistakes with my grammar or what not please let me know. And I'm sorry, Heero is a little out of character, I made him talk, XD. The other thing you need to know, I did not make up Heero and Duo's back story for this story, I got them from a manga called Gundam Wing – Episode Zero. Though I will explain everything so it is not necessary for you to read it to understand this story, I do recommend it.

Thanks a bunch, check out the disclaimer and my spiffy copy write and then please head on and to the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam wing, Bandai does I think. Well technically I do own it cause I've got all the episodes on DVD, the movie, a bunch of tee-shirts, and a few action figures... Oh well.

©Yakubi

**A Home To Return To**

**Chapter 01**

Gundam Pilots had no homes. This was a rule made so that the Gundam Pilots could not be threatened. However, this rule had been largely ignored as everyone who was anyone had known that the Gundams where fighting for the colonies. And now, after the wars were done, and the Gundams were gone, most of the Gundam Pilots did have places to call home.

Trowa had, for a very long time, called the circus home. Then a one sided affection was formed between him and Quatre. Trowa had never been one for friendship and so had pushed the blond away. But when Trowa offered more than just a simple friendship, Quatre snapped it up. Trowa had then moved in with Quatre. Whether the two had become brothers or lovers no one knew, but Trowa and Quatre had a home with each other in Quatre's rich estates on Earth and the colonies. Most of the time they did stay in the colonies, they would return to earth once in a while to have a visit with old friends.

Wu Fei had been harder to place. The man was a soldier through and though, thus he had become a very good Preventer. At first, his job was the only place he felt content but then he had been put on more and more cases with one Sally Poe. Sure enough, she wore him down and eventually he consented to settle down with her. They were working on marriage plans at the moment. Most people were sure that Sally Poe was one hell of a woman to have the stomach to put up with Wu Fei for as long as she had, much less as long as she planned to.

Heero Yuy and Duo Maxwell were the only people that seemed to take this rule to heart, even after the war was over. Heero moved from place to place when he felt like it. He was always ready for another war to break out, whether he was in the colonies, on the moon or enjoying earth he never let his guard down. Getting around was as easy as ever for him, just a little hacking and he had whatever he needed. He didn't over use this ability though, he lived a modest life.

Then there was Duo, he used his religious background to his advantage. He went from one church to another, earning a few days keep with his well placed words. His sermons were becoming well known and he was let in easier and easier every time. Whether it was on the moon, in the colonies or on earth, as long as he promised to preach, he was given a bed and food for a night or two. Duo was comfortable as long as there was a church nearby. He, to, lived modestly. He made sure he had enough to live on, but no more.

Pasts where also something that Heero and Duo shared; both of them had been through a lot, and though at times they wished to forget, they were both shaped by people long gone.

Heero had at first traveled with a man named Odin Lowe. He had taught Heero how to live before the boy even had a name. Heero had felt a tinge of emotion when he had found out the all the professors had died in some freak accident, but he couldn't say that he cared all that much. While Doctor J had taught him many things he was also the man that had toy with his life, and taken away his chance to try to live normally. Heero tried not to get bogged up in the past; the future was more important to him now.

Duo had first lived as an orphan on the streets, being named by his best friend Solo. But after his friends death he had been taken in at the Maxwell Church. While all the other children had been adopted away, Duo always returned. After the church was destroyed Duo adopted the persona of the God of Death and became a Gundam pilot.

Heero was currently walking along a more run-down street in the backwater area of a colony. He needed a place to stay. While it would be easy to break into someone's house, there was no harm in looking for some legal way to earn his keep.

"Sir!"

Heero turned his head to face a man with his cold blue eyes. "What?"

"You, you should come inside!" The man gestured to the church behind him, the building had clearly seen better days. "We have a very talented young man preaching today and I think you might want to hear what he says!"

"Sorry, not interested in religion." Heero turned to start walking.

"If you just come in and listen to this man's words I'm sure you will see God's light!"

"Not interested." Heero's patience was running thin.

"If you come in and listen I will give you a free bed for the night and a warm meal!"

The man had captured Heero's interest now. The brunette turned back to face the man. "All I have to do is listen to an hour sermon and you'll give me a place to stay for the night along with a meal?"

"Yes sir!" Heero thought the man's head might break off form how vigorously he was nodding.

"Very well." What could one sermon do? Heero walked in through the open doors and made his way to the center chamber. He took a pew in the back and gave anyone who tried to sit by him a firm glare that told them quite clearly to fuck off. He just wanted this over and done with, not to mention the priest hovering in the doorway closest to him was really starting to piss him off. No 'talented young man' was going to turn him into a devout believer or whatever and Heero wished that that point would make it to the annoying old priest. He was only here for the food and the bed he had been promised.

The old priest made his way to the front of the room and to the podium. "Ladies and gentlemen! If you will all take your seats I think it is about time we start! Praise be to the Lord, for today we have a special guest who needs no introduction! Please, welcome him onto the podium!" Heero's eyes locked onto the long brown haired male that was making his way to the podium.

"There's no way..."

"Please welcome Duo Maxwell!"

"It couldn't really be him... there's no way Duo would be in a church..."

"Hey everybody, my name's Duo, and I'm gonna preach to you, alright?" A shout came from the crowd. "All of us live in sin, we are surrounded by it, but God our lord is with us!" The words came from him in a spring, he didn't even have notes, it came straight from him, and Heero was transfixed by him. "God protects us and forgives us, if only we ask for it sincerely. He is behind us, the father and protector. He is beside us, the trusted friend and confidant. He is below us, guiding our feet and preventing us from slipping. He is in front of us, parting the darkness and leading us from danger to safety..." Heero no longer paid attention to what the man was saying. The light from the window behind the brunette made him look to be glowing with a bright halo around his head. Heero was transfixed by this remnant of his past. "...well, that's it folks. Hope it inspired you."

Heero looked down at his watch. Two hours had passed without him even noticing it. He felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see the old priest. "You look like a changed man sir, I told you that that young man would make you see the light of God."

Heero didn't give a rat's ass about the light of God at the moment. "Where is Mr. Maxwell staying?"

"Why, with you in the basement. You two are both grown men so I'm sure you can share a room. Plus, maybe the man can lead you in the sinner's prayer."

"Thank you, which way to the basement?"

"Right down that way sir."

Heero left without a word, he went down the rickety old stairs that lead to the basement. Upon entering he came to realize just how dark it was. He couldn't even see his hand in front if his face.

"Heero?" Duo's voice cut through the darkness. "It that you?"

"Yeah, it's me."

"You can't see at all, can you?" Heero stayed silent. "Well, I guess I'll just have to lead you." Heero heard the floor creaking and then felt Duo grab his hand. He allowed himself to be pulled through the room. He was forced to sit down on what he thought was a bed. His eyes still could not adjust to the darkness. "So, what are you doing here? I never figured you for the church going type."

"I'm not. They just said if I stayed through the service they'd let me have a room and a meal. I had no idea you'd be in a place like this."

"Yeah, well I speak the ''Word of God' to earn my keep. I travel here and there. How you are living?"

"I travel, hack if I need to."

"I see. Hey, can you see yet?"

"A little." Heero turned to face where he knew Duo was sitting. He could feel the other man's body heat on his skin. Heero made out a toned chest, Duo was only wearing a pair of pants.

"Meal's here!" A cheery voice run up from the top of the stairs and descended down. An odd blue haired maid left two trays of food on a table Heero had not noticed before. The maid left just as quickly as she had arrived.

"I guess that means it's time to eat." Duo rose and went to sit at the end of the table, he started eating as Heero took his own seat.

The food was bland, Heero thought it was some sort of beef stew but he wasn't sure. They were in a church though so what the hell, the priest didn't seem like the type to poison two wanderers. As he ate, he watched Duo... the man's personality seemed no different than he had those few years ago. He sure was a hasty eater though. Then again, as Heero's eyes adjusted he could see Duo's ribs quite clearly. Heero set his bowl down on the table and laid the worn silver spoon in it, the hollow 'thunk' the plastic of the bowl made from connecting with the wood of the table rang through the room. "Duo."

"Hmm?" The man paused with the spoon halfway into his waiting mouth.

"Have the rest of mine." Heero starred with his usual emotionless expression.

As usual, Duo looked for more in the expression, he found something more-as usual. "Heero." Duo set his bowl down as well. "I don't need your pity. I am not some stray who needs to be babied. I know you are still hungry so eat your portion. This is plenty for me." Duo looked hard at Heero, just daring him to continue the verbal banter.

Heero reached over and ran his cold finger tips over the skin that seemed to be just barely holding back Duo's ribs. Duo shivered from the cold touch. "This tells me you need to eat more. You are starving to death Duo, I am not. Eat the rest of my stew, you clearly need it more than me."

Duo stared deep into Heero's eyes. This time he could find nothing, not even the concern Heero seemed to project. Even though Duo could make out that his lips were tight he could see nothing in the cold of Heero's eyes. "...Alright. But when you stomach wakes you up growling in the middle of the night you are not allowed to blame me for it. You got that?" Heero nodded and pulled back his hand. Duo looked at him for a moment longer, hoping that the other man would retract his offer. Duo did not want to rob Heero of his meal, but his growling stomach would not be denied. Duo hurriedly poured the contents of Heero's bowl into his own.

Heero watched as Duo ate. The man was too skinny... he was still muscled but he was just too skinny. He was clearly not living as well as he said. Heero would save him from this, he promised himself that. Duo was one of the few people who had ever truly tried to understand Heero. Relena had seemed to but Heero had recognized it as more of a fascination with something unfamiliar than love and had left her alone since the end of the war. If she was ever in danger, he would rush to her rescue as always, but outside form that there was no longer any reason to associate with her. But Duo was another matter. Duo was someone who could understand what it was like seeing the faces of people you had killed in your dreams. Duo understood betrayal. Heero would help Duo get back on his feet, he could not ignore his fellow homeless pilot.

"Heero?"

"What?"

"Sorry... you seemed to be spaced out there. You must have been thinking about something really important."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because you didn't even notice the maid come down and take our bowls." Heero looked down to see the bowls and silverware gone. Heero said nothing. "It's unlike you to lose yourself so easily. Do you want to talk about it?"

Heero stood up. "I think it is time we go get some rest. There is time to speak in the morning."

"Not something you feel like talking about?" Duo let a smirk grace his features. "Alrighty then. Let's get some rest, I'll be sure to pester you about it in the morning." Heero said nothing. "Well, follow me." Duo got up and walked over to where Heero guess his bed would be. Duo stopped suddenly. "Suddenly I realize I forgot to mention something." Duo rubbed the back of his head.

"What?"

"It was just supposed to be me down here... there's only one bed."

"What is the problem Duo?"

Duo looked over his shoulder, a light frown tugged at the edges of his mouth. "One bed, two men. That generally wouldn't work." Duo sighed. "I'll take the floor."

"No."

"Why not? Are you going to?"

Heero could tell be the sounds his shoes made that the ground was made of concrete. It was a cold night and having either of them sleep on the floor would just result in poor health. Heero had already noticed the shiver Duo seemed to have. The basement was too cold for someone to sleep on the floor. "We can both sleep on the bed, it is big enough for two."

"Oh no way. Sorry Heero but no." Duo looked forward again.

Heero walked forward so he was beside Duo looking as the bed. "Duo. If one of us sleeps on the floor that person will surely get sick, it is too cold down here. We have but one blanket and if two people are under it those two people are more likely to stay warm. Stop arguing with me and just do it." Heero moved towards the bed, he slipped off his worn yellow sneakers before getting into the bed and underneath the cover.

Duo couldn't help the blush from coming to warm his cheeks. Though he was grateful for the warmth he hated the fact that he was embarrassed... it's not like Heero was asking him to sleep with him or anything. Alright well technically he was but not like _that_! Duo sighed before taking off his shoes and getting in the bed next to Heero. The two men were shoulder to shoulder with each other. Duo had to admit it, it was much better with Heero acting as a breathing heater. "Just do me a favor? ...don't tell the others about this okay?"

"Go to sleep Maxwell."

Duo couldn't help but dislike the way Heero used his last name, he wasn't some little kid that needed to be scolded. "Alright. Good night Heero." Silence followed, not like Duo had expected an answer, but it would have been nice.

Sleep seemed to take forever to catch up to Duo's restless mind. All he could you was lay there silent and unmoving. He knew that Heero was an extremely light sleeper and Duo did not want to wake him. Duo listened to Heero's steady breathing. If it had been someone else next to him he was sure he would freak out, the kind of fear was one of the reasons he made a good pilot. He was paranoid, paranoid about everything. Somehow though, he was sure that as long as it was Heero beside him and no one else he would eventually fall asleep. Duo only had to wait a few minutes for sleep to cover his eyes and dull his senses.

-=-=-=-=-=-Time Skip-=-=-=-=-=-

There were no windows for the moon to shine through but Heero still knew the time. It was five o'clock, he always woke up at exactly five o'clock. Heero sat up in the borrowed bed, his back ached from sleeping on the worn down spring mattress. A sudden movement caught his eye and he turned to face it. He had forgotten about the other occupant of said mattress, Duo. Heero looked at the other pilot. His long hair had somehow worked it's way out of the usual braid and was now messily spread about him. His face was completely relaxed and he was turned on his side curled up with the blanket up to his chin. It looked strange to Heero. He and Duo had slept in the same room many times but Duo had always looked different. He never looked this… relaxed. Heero's hand moved forward and ghosted over the pale face of his companion. He moved a stray lock of chestnut brown hair out from in front of the boy's closed eyes. Duo made a low mewling sound and pulled the blanket closer to himself. Heero placed the palm of his hand flat on Duo's bare shoulder.

"Mmm..." Duo groaned, not wanting to wake up and face the world just yet.

"Duo."

The deep voice of Heero Yuy washed over him again, waking him. His eyes focused on Heero.

"Are you alright?"

"Heero...? Why did you wake me up so early?"

"It's morning." Heero said as though that explained everything. "I was going to get ready to leave this place. Do you want to come with me?"

Duo was shocked. Heero was… inviting him along? Sure Duo was going to try to come along anyways but he hadn't expected this. He found his voice. "Are you sure? I wouldn't-"

"Just answer."

"Alright."

"Good. Pack up, we'll leave in ten minutes." Heero slid off bed and pulled on his shoes. He bent over and started looking through his worn green duffel bag.

Duo wanted to get out of bed and get ready to go… but it was so cold. The bed wasn't comfy but for the moment it was warm and far more inviting then the cold ground. Still, he knew Heero would leave him behind. Due pulled himself away from the bed and hurried to get dressed. He pulled a change of clothes out of his black backpack. Turning around he saw Heero pulling his shirt over his head and had to turn back around. Now was not the time for such things! Duo saw the image of Heero flash before his eyes. The smooth tan skin, muscles contracting under that skin... no! Duo would not let that go any farther. Duo looked at the wall as he got changed and re-braided his hair. He made sure not to turn back around until he heard Heero zip his bag close. Picking up his own bag he turned around the face the other pilot. Heero was facing him with a cold stare. "Ready when you are." Duo's voice echoed through the cold basement.

"Hn." Heero nodded, giving Duo a quick once over to make sure nothing obvious was missing. Heero turned around and made his way up the stairs. Heero didn't have to turn around to know Duo was behind him, once the braided boy made up his mind as to where he wanted to go he would get there no matter who tried to stop him. Finally getting to the top of the stairs they made their way out of the church. Opening one of the large wood doors that, surprisingly, did not squeak, they made their way out into the freshly recycled air of the colony. Heero stopped. "So where do you want to go Duo?" Heero just wondered so he thought it best if Duo were to pick the place they went. If Duo was happy then maybe it would speed his recovery.

Duo took a deep breath and sighed. "How about Earth? It'd be nice to actually have _fresh_ air."

"Mission accepted." Heero mumbled under his breath. "Let's go, I can get us on a shuttle easy enough." Heero looked at beck at Duo, glancing over his shoulder. "How do you want to get there?"

"In style!" Duo smiled.

Heero looked forward again. "We'll go private then." Heero started walking to the nearest space port, he had made sure to have the layout of the colony memorized. Duo just smiled wider.

-=-=-=-=-=-Author's Note-=-=-=-=-=-

So that's the first chapter, I hope you liked to.

Writing Heero is really difficult because in the series he doesn't talk much so I am sorry he's so out of character, but I need him to talk more than he ordinarily would. I tried to keep Duo as in character as possible while making him attracted to Heero, hopefully I didn't do too bad.

Well, please let me know what you thought about it. ^.^

*~Yakubi~*


	2. Chapter 2

Yay, chapter two! Thanks very much to everyone who put this on the story alert. ^.^

wind dancer 1981: Thanks for the review, and I intend to keep this story going until completion, so no worries there.

Demise Angel: Thanks so much for the review, I'm glad you like the way I am handling the characters, Heero is such a pain to write! And I do want to show why Duo likes Heero, but that won't be for a little bit, so bear with me. Hopefully, you will like this chapter to. ^.^

GiantPrinting: Thanks so much for the review. I don't intend to leave this story unfinished, so please bear with my slow updates.

©Yakubi

**A Home To Return To**

**Chapter 02**

Quickly and efficiently Heero led the way through the streets. Zigzagging through crowds, taking short cuts through parks, any normal person would have been long lost. Heero, however, was not a normal person, Heero figured that only careless people get lost and he did not consider himself to be careless. Duo seemed to have no problem with following him either, in fact the brunette didn't even seem to be keeping an eye on where they were going. Heero felt almost happy that Duo trusted him that much but at the same time he was slightly disappointed the Duo wasn't being more careful. After about two hours of walking at Heero's pace(marching) they made it to the space port. Walking over to the counter of the ticket booth he stood straight in front of it and did not lean against it as most people would have done after walking the distance he and Duo had traversed. "I need to rent a private shuttle for myself and one other."

The attendant stammered, he brown eyes flashing. "Sir, I'm afraid not." She shook her head which made her loose light brown hair swirl in front of her face. "Private shuttles are very expensive and I will not be tricked into getting all the paper work for some practical joke." Clearly the attendant thought them as poor teenage boys out for a few laughs. Then again, they were not exactly dressed in the manner of someone who could afford their own private shuttle.

Heero leaned over now, but just enough to make the attendant uncomfortable. "I am sorry we do not meet your standers, but I assure you I can pay for the shuttle. Now, do your job. Get the paper work and bring it to me. If you do not, I will have a bit of a chat with your supervisor and see to it that you are fired." Heero's voice was menacing.

The attendant shook her head and scurried off. "Yes sir!"

"Jesus Heero, there was no need to be so hard on her." Duo sighed.

"Duo, I wouldn't have gotten her fired, but she is being paid to do a job. She should be more worried about serving her customers and less worried about how her nails look."

"What do her nails have to do with anything?"

Heero looked back at Duo. "You didn't notice?" Heero sighed, Duo was defiantly not the same person he had known. "Can't you smell it? One of her hands was painted and the other not, the painted one's nails were still wet. She was painting her nails and got irritated about being interrupted." Heero said calmly.

"Damn Heero, you don't miss a beat do you?"

"I'm a soldier Duo, if I 'miss' something I could lose my life."

Duo sighed. "The war is over Heero, maybe you should lighten up a bit? Live a little! Think of it like a vacation."

"Du-"

"Sir!" The attendant came rushing back with her unpainted hand holding a small stack of papers. "I have the forms." She laid them down on the counter in front of Heero. "And here's a pen." She handed him a plain ball-point. "Just sign these and we will have your shuttle waiting in the space port!"

Heero took the papers in his hand and went to sit down in one of the uncomfortable looking chairs just a little ways from the counter. "It'll be a moment." He said calmly.

"Sir?"

"I read everything before I sign it. Do not rush me." He sat down lightly and began to go through the papers, reading them quickly.

Duo stayed at the counter and made small talk with the attendant. "Sorry about him, he's a bit of a grouch."

"You don't have to tell me twice." The attendant laughed.

"So what were you doing before we came here?"

"Oh, I was just painting my nails. I bought a new shade today and I wanted to try it out and then your friend showed up…" The woman wrinkled her nose and pursed her lips.

"Well I'll be damned." Duo muttered under his breath.

"What?"

"Never mind. I'll go see if he is done."

"There's no way he could be done reading all that paperwork-"

"I think this should be good enough." Heero passed the papers over Duo's shoulder.

The attendant stuttered. "How could you possibly have finished all that paperwork so fast?" The brown haired woman took the packet of forms.

"I'm a fast reader. I assure you everything is in order." Heero was getting tired of this irritating woman. There was nothing more aggravating that having to deal with someone who didn't know how to do their job.

"Si-"

Heero put on his best glare. "Just hurry up. You have everything you need so get to it." Heero's cold blue eyes threatened her with the promise of pain if she argued with him farther.

The woman made a small noise in the back of her throat before hurrying off to the back room. "Heero…" Duo sighed.

"What?"

"You may be the best pilot I know but you have _terrible_ people skills."

"That doesn't matter. We should just concentrate on getting to earth, we can work on my 'people skills' later." Heero turned away from Duo and walking over to the chair he had sat in previously. He sat down lightly, he left his leg muscles tensed up. You never know when you have to get up and evade enemy fire.

Duo sighed. "Man! Even when you sit you're tense. Calm down a bit!" Duo plopped down in the chair next to Heero and reclined back into it to show his point.

"You never know when you'll have to get up and run Duo. I like to be prepared."

Duo sighed again, Heero made him do that a lot. "Look, the war is over. A bunch of mobile suits aren't just going to show up and start shooting."

"You don't know that Duo."

"This is a time of peace Heero! All the weapons have been destroyed!" Duo wanted to shout.

"Just like Marie Maya's weapons?" Heero was getting pissed. Duo was a soldier too, he should understand.

"Damn it Heero, that was an oversight. Relena made sure to get everything this time. There won't be another war!"

"You don't know that so why don't you mind your own business, Maxwell!" Heero and Duo looked each other in the eyes. Heero noticed how tense Duo looked now.

The two boys continued their staring contest until a shrill voice come over on the loud speaker. "Will one Heero Yuy and his companion make their way to Gate E. The shuttle has arrived." The two boys got up and Duo fell into place behind Heero. He waved good bye at the brown haired ticket attendant before moving past her toward where Duo guessed Gate E was. Heero would never get lost so Duo felt fine following him. Still…. The guy needed to loosen up, it seemed like he had gone past a stick and shoved the whole damn tree up his ass. Duo chuckled at his own thought.

Heero wanted to glare at Duo when the man started laughing. Heero didn't know what was so funny but he was not enjoying having Duo around him. Heero's hope that Duo had matured a bit had been taken outside into the back yard and shot, repeatedly. Heero was going to be sure Duo ate properly and had a personality make-over, the man's hyper active and easy going personality where really getting on Heero's nerves. Heero's handed itched for a gun, if only to be able to threaten the idiotic man into silence.

"Welcome…sir. Are you Heero Yuy?" The red headed attendant looking them over seemed to think someone was playing a joke on her. Heero wordlessly pulled out his wallet and showed her his ID. She seemed satisfied with it. She leaned over to look behind Heero at Duo. "Is this your companion?" Heero nodded. The woman looked between Duo and Heero. Heero raised an eyebrow.

"Is something the matter?"

"Oh no sir, I'm completely open minded to that sort of thing." The red head smiled.

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"Oh, I mean about you two being g-"

"Heero!" Duo interrupted his face scarlet. "I think we should get going before we miss our flight. Duo practically ran to the shuttle. Heero was confused by Duo's sudden change of mood.

"Good luck!" the attendant looked at Heero and smiled. Heero just got onto the shuttle without sparring a glance to the laughing attendant. It seemed everyone one on this entire colony was completely and totally wacko.

Duo stood in the doorway of the shuttle, he looked inside at the lavish decor of the shuttle. "Heero…"

"What?"

"How did you afford this?"

"…Relena… she sends her private shuttle to every place I go, it's kind of annoying but you said you wanted to travel 'in style' so I figure this would suit you." Heero pushed past Duo and took a seat in one of the plush wine red chairs. "Take a seat Duo, we should be taking off soon."

As if on cue the pilot came over the loud speaker. "Sir, can you and your companion please sit down and buckle up? We will be lifting off in a few minutes."

Duo hurriedly took the chair closest to him, which happened to be the one right across from Heero. He was still mad at the man but the pilot had said he needed to sit down. Duo grabbed for the seat belt but could not for the life of him seem to buckle it. "Here, let me help you sir." Duo looked up to see the flight attendant lean over to buckle his seat belt. Duo jerked as the very MALE flight attendants' hands ghosted over his groin. "There you go sir." The attendant stood up. Duo looked the man over quickly. He looked to be about twenty-three, he had dark blond hair and eyes the color of an angry ocean. "My name is Derek, and I'll be your attendant today, nice to meet you."

"H-hi. I'm Duo Maxwell, nice to meet you." Duo and Derek shook hands, Derek holding on a little longer than necessary.

"Oh! So you're Mr. Yuy's companion then!" The man's eyes lit up. "So you two are a cou-"

"No!" Duo went scarlet again. "We aren't together like that, we are just traveling together!"

Heero lifted an eyebrow but made no comment. Whatever the two were talking about it had him confused. The red headed woman had started saying something and Duo had interrupted and now the same thing was happening with this Derek character. Heero would be sure to ask Duo what was going on after the attendant left.

"I see." Derek smiled and then leaned in close to Duo, their noses almost touching, the brunette leaned back slightly. "But from the expression on your face, I'd say you wouldn't mind it if that were the case between you two."

"Wh-wh-wh-" Duo stammered, his face flushed with embarrassment.

The blond stood up straight again and glanced at Heero. "Not to say I wouldn't mind it either, still, it's written all over your face."

"I do not know what the hell you are talking about!" Duo's face was red as a tomato.

"Yeah, yeah, sure you don't sweetness." The blond winked before walking off. "Give a yell if there is anything at all you need."

Duo crossed his arm over his chest at Derek's voice came over the loud speaker. "Alright, make sure you are securely fastened in, we are going to take off now." The speaker clicked off and Duo felt the vibrations of the engines being started. The brunette squeezed his eyes shut, he didn't get queasy or anything, he just didn't like shuttles. He had seen them taken down in only a few jerks of a mobile suit control stick.

Heero noticed Duo tense at the sound of the engines. Suddenly, there was pull and Heero knew that they were starting to speed up the ramp so that they could exit the colony and finally be on their way to earth. As the speed increased so did the pull on Heero's back. He looked up to see Duo. The man's hands where gripping the armrests and Heero could see how the restraints where barely holding the man to his chair. The shuttle began to go straight up, Heero knew it would be a good twenty seconds before the shuttle reached a constant speed and straightened out. A snap rang through the cabin of the shuttle as Duo's restraints broke. The man's violet-blue eyes snapped open as he fell from his chair, it seemed to go in slow motion as he started to fall. He was going right towards Heero! Heero reached out on instinct and grabbed the man by the back of the neck and waist before pulling Duo into him, pushing Duo's head into his chest and making sure to get a good hold on him. Duo latched on to him, his fingers grabbing the green shirt Heero wore as his legs were pushed onto either side of Heero's by the force. "We're off the ramp, it should only be a few more seconds until we straighten out." Heero whispered to Duo. Heero wasn't sure if had been heard or not but at least he had made the effort.

Duo clung to Heero. Those stupid restraints! They weren't supposed to just snap like that! Damn it! And now there he was, pressed against Heero and holding on for dear life like some… like some CHILD! Heero had a good hold in him, he wasn't going to die, but he was so embarrassed that he just might. He couldn't take this, he needed to get away, but the pull kept him there, the place he would have loved to have been at any other time. The pull started to lessen, it was just enough for you to notice the change before it stopped completely. Heero didn't let go right away like Duo supposed he would. Duo wanted to look up, he wanted to get off his knees, but most of all he wanted to get out of this embarrassing-as-hell position. That dirty flight attendant was sure to see and poke fun, and Duo was not in the mood for that.

The loud speaker clicked on. "Alright, we are now clear of the colony's gravitational pull, it should be a few hours before we get to earth though so enjoy your flight. I'll be out there in a sec with a light lunch." The speaker clicked off.

"Heero…" Duo pushed lightly away from the other boy, his hands saying in the green shirt. Blue met blue in a clash of eyes and all Duo could do was blush. They were too close! Almost nose to nose, neither boy moved, no matter how much they seemed to want to they were rooted in the spot.

"Duo I-"

"Well don't you two look cozy! I leave for a minute and you two are already working on messing up Miss Relena's plane! What a pair of animals!" Derek laughed.

Duo got up, his entire face covered in an angry blush. "You nimrod!" Duo gestured to that remains of his restraints. "Look at that! The stupid restraints snapped half way up the ramp! I could have died and you laugh! Heero caught me, if not for him I would have died!"

Derek's eyes lit up with panic as he rushed over to the seat Duo had been in previously. He picked up the ripped remains of the belts. "But this flight was checked, there was no way something like this should have happened. This is Miss Relena's PRIVATE shuttle, there's no way something as important as the restraints could have gotten missed in the inspection."

Heero shot Duo a look. Hopeful this would teach the braided man to be a bit more careful. Duo straightened up to his full height as Derek righted himself, even so Duo only made it to the nose of the perverted attendant. "It doesn't matter what it wasn't supposed to happen, it happened so you better recheck this plane the next time it takes off. We wouldn't want to have _Miss _Relena _splattered_ over the back of this plane!" Duo practically screamed.

Duo felt a hand on his shoulder and turned his head to see Heero out of the side of his eye. "Derek, I think you name was?" There was a nod from the attendant. "I would be most grateful if you would keep your mind on your job and not be an idiot. Duo and I are going to earth and we intend to get there safely, whether or not this plane ever takes off again is up to you, I personally do not care." Heero looked to Duo next. "Maxwell, next time we get on a shuttle together I'll check it. But for now sit down and calm your nerves." Heero was not one to miss the fact that Duo's hands where twitching. "I do believe we are to have a lunch on this flight?" Heero raised an eyebrow and glanced at the attendant before taking a seat and pulling Duo into the chair beside him.

"Y-yes, right away!" Derek ran towards the back of the shuttle where the kitchen was. The tone of Heero's voice was enough to make _anyone_ want to get away.

"…damn it…" Duo's hands balled into fists on his knees, his whole body was shaking. Why was he so weak? When the restraints snapped all he could do was fall. He didn't react the way he should. He should have held on to the chair, he should have saved himself. But instead he was once again relying on Heero. It was humiliating. It was embarrassing. Duo felt a knot in his gut. It was pathetic for him, a gundam pilot, to rely on someone else. He shouldn't need to, hell, he was responsible for the deaths of well over a hundred people and he couldn't even save his own life? It was ridicules!

"Duo." Heero's deep smooth voice washed over Duo, the braided boy did not look up. "Duo, you're fine alright. Now just pull yourself together. I have plenty of time to take care of you but I would like it better if you could take care of yourself."

Duo almost smiled. Leave it to Heero to start out sounding nice and then go back into soldier mode. It was impossible for the cold brunette to comprehend that it wasn't the fall that had Duo so upset, it was that fact that he couldn't save himself. "It's fine Heero, just give me a minute."

Heero silently admitted to himself that comforting people was not his strong point. He had never learned that aspect of human life, he was a soldier not a nanny. Heero put his hand on Duo's shoulder. He hoped that was the right thing to do, but he had no information on the subject so he was just doing what came to mind. Heero started to move his hand in a circular motion, he once again hoped that that was the right thing to do.

Duo found himself slightly shocked. While Heero's words were not very good somehow the contact between Heero and himself was slowly spreading warmth throughout his body. His shaking stopped and he was finally able to get his breathing under control. Duo finally looked up. "I'm sorry Heero…"

"About what? It's not like you ran through the shuttle with a pocket knife and cut the restraints."

Duo almost laughed, that was one of the only times he had ever heard Heero make a joke, or at least try to. But right now he was in far too somber of a mood to appreciate humor. "I shouldn't have fallen. I should have grabbed onto the chair and held myself there. By allowing myself to fall like that I put you in danger. If you hadn't caught me I could have killed you-"

"Duo." Duo made the mistake of looking Heero in the eyes. Suddenly all thought left his brain and the only thing he could concentrate on with Heero's smooth, melted chocolate voice. "You wouldn't have killed me, the worse that would have happened is a few broken ribs."

"But-"

"Duo, just listen. It's not so bad to have to rely on someone once in a while. It won't hurt you."

"I know that, but I should of-"

"Duo." Heero stopped Duo from hurting himself farther. "There's no need to blame yourself, stop it. You're human."

Duo stayed silent after that, still looking Heero in the eyes. They were so close, Duo could feel Heero's warm breath ghosting over his face. His eyes drooped to half-mast. "Heero…" Duo almost groaned the name as it rolled of his tongue. He knew what he wanted to happen, but in the back of his head he doubted Heero understood the affect he was having on the young braided boy.

"Duo...?" The slight change in pitch as Heero spoke proved what Duo had already known, Heero was oblivious. Duo knew Heero wouldn't have been taught this particular aspect of life by Professor J, while seduction could be used to obtain information Duo had a feeling Heero had more training in torture techniques. Duo wanted to sigh, but though it would be inappropriate. He moved away from Heero, settling into his seat. Duo just wished that the heat that had begun to pool in his stomach would go away.

"Duo? Do you feel better now?"

"Yeah, I feel better, thanks. Where's that lunch though? I'm starving."

"Lunch!" Derek almost yelled as he entered the passenger section of the plane. "We've got sandwiches, chips, juices, sodas, fruits, vegetables, heck-we've even got fried chicken!" The blond man stopped his cart in the aisle next to Heero's seat. "So what'll it be?"

Heero looked up at the man and was slightly reminded of Duo, this flight attendant was just too happy, he bordered on chipper. "I'll take chicken soup and a ham and swiss sandwich."

Duo looked over at Derek. "Chicken soup and a turkey and provolone sandwich for me."

"Anything to drink?"

"Water."

"Root beer."

"All right, I'll get back to you with the soup and sandwiches." The blond man reached under his cart and opened a cooler, reaching in he pulled out a bottled water and a can of root beer, he handed the drinks to Heero. Derek wheeled his cart back to the attendant's station and disappeared behind the blue white curtain that cut the passengers off from the crew.

Heero turned to Duo and handed him the root beer, his fingers brushing Duo's. "Here."

Duo fought the blush that so desperately tried to paint itself across his features. "Thanks." Duo focused on the cold of the soda can held in his shaking hands.

"Are you sure you're alright Duo?"

Duo looked up and was once again captured by the angry deep blue of Heero's eyes. "I'm fine."

Heero didn't look like he was as confident about Duo's health. "Your face is red, you might have a fever." Heero reached up and placed his hand on Duo's forehead before placing his other hand on his own. "You feel a bit warm."

Duo's face went a shade redder. Heero was not touching him in any sort of sexual way, he was just checking for fever and yet Duo couldn't help but blush more. Duo placed his hands on Heero's and moved the appendage away from his face. "I'm fine Heero, promise." Duo said with a childish grin.

"Alright, but we need to get you checked out by a doctor when we get to earth." Heero looked down at his hand, which was still being held by Duo. "You can let go now."

Duo retracted his hands lightning fast. He hadn't even noticed that he had still been holding Heero's hand. "Sorry." Duo said, somewhat sheepishly.

"No problem."

Derek soon returned with their food, the two pilots spending the rest of their flight in silence. Though once or twice a conversation started it never lasted long. The two boys soon feel asleep in the overly padded chairs of Miss Relena's private shuttle.

-=-=-=-=-=-Time Skip-=-=-=-=-=-

Heero awoke to find himself still in Relena's shuttle. Feeling a weight on his shoulder he turned to see Duo's head resting on him, the man's bangs hiding his face from Heero's view. Heero turned to stare out the window. The Earth greeted him, the swirling atmosphere smiling white as the blue oceans shined. He could see land on the Earth's surface. Looking at the Earth like this always made him able to think that maybe the blue planet wasn't as polluted and dirty as he thought. It was a foolish notion though. Though Heero valued life, there was no way he could deny the corrupting touch of humanity. Luckily for the Earth, humans had become much cleaner in recent years. Nearly everything was recycled, parks and forests were better protected. It was starting to be a place where people wanted to be again.

"Could you two please fasten your seat belts, we are going to be entering the Earth's atmosphere soon." Derek's voice come on over the speakers. A click followed as the system was shut off, signaling the end of the message.

Duo stirred, but only enough to push himself closer to Heero, finding a comfortable spot, Duo fell back into the welcoming arms of sleep.

Heero looked down at his companion. This was going to be difficult. Heero slowly moved to fasten his own seat belt, he was able to do so without waking Duo. The real trick would be belting Maxwell into place without waking the boy. Heero moved so Duo's head would move more into his chest, he used his right arm to cradle the other boy so he was sitting up enough for Heero to do the seat belt up and not wake him. Using his left hand he reached around Duo's waist, grabbed the strap and pulled it over Duo's lap, he clicked the metal restraint into place. He slowly pulled the belt tight before running his hand around Duo's waist again to make sure the belt was secure. Heero pulled his hand back. He continued using his right arm and chest to cradle Duo's sleeping form. He had been lucky not to wake Duo so far, and was not sure if the sleeping boy would stay sleeping if he was moved again. Heero was left with no choice but to continue holding him.

Heero looked down at the boy in his arms, absentmindedly noting that this was the most he had touched the boy since meeting him. Heero stared at Duo. His high cheek bones and face, a tiny bit of baby fat still clinging to his cheeks making him look all the more innocent. Heero couldn't help but wonder why the man had let his hair grow so long, Heero would have cut it by now if it was him. Heero tried to picture Duo with short hair and failed, Duo had long hair, a fact that probably wouldn't change.

Duo's hands moved up and latched onto the fabric of Heero's shirt as the boy continued to sleep. "Hee...ro..." The boy mumbled.

Heero felt a sudden pressure form in his lower stomach, why, he had no idea. He was familiar with the feeling, but wondered what was making his body react in such a way.

"Hee... roo..."

The heat increased. Heero couldn't help but be surprised, he was reacting to Maxwell groaning his name!

"Heero... no... more... I can't take it..."

A small blush formed across Heero's cheeks. What on Earth was Duo dreaming about that would make he repeatedly moan Heero's name?

"No more pudding Heero... I'm gonna burst."

And instantly, with only a single sentence, Heero Yuy felt like a fool.

-=-=-=-=-=-Author's Note-=-=-=-=-=-

in this chapter you really have to read between the lines of a couple of Heero's parts. Writing him is so hard...

Oh well, hopefully you liked this chapter. Please leave a review and let me know what you think. ^.^


	3. Chapter 3

No inspiration is a real killer. .

But I know I need to keep writing otherwise I wills stop, so here is another chapter.

I hope you like it.

Demise Angel: I'm really happy you are please with the way I write Heero. I'm also glad that even though you don't really like this pairing you are still enjoying the way I write it. ^.^ I intend to keep the shyness for a bit, seeing as I am not a fan of stories where character just suddenly love each other and have naughty time. .

I hope you like this chapter to. ^.^

©Yakubi

**A Home To Return To**

**Chapter 03**

Stepping out of the spaceport, carrying their bags, the two boy's blinked in the bright light of the sun. While the colonies had artificial sun, it wasn't as bright as the real thing, the pilots knew it would take some time for their eyes to adjust.

Duo shielded his eyes from the sun with a raised hand. "So where to Heero?"

"I've got a hotel room we can go to."

"Where are we, by the way?"

"Japan." Though the world was technically all one nation the different parts of the world had retained their names and unique cultures.

"Woah! Really?"

Heero pointed to a sign, written in Japanese. "Follow me."

Duo followed the boy in front of him as the two started walking. Heero seemed to know his way around as it only took them forty-five minutes before they were walking into Heero's previously mentioned hotel room. "So," Duo turned to Heero once they were in what could be called the living room "Why Japan of all places?"

"I thought it would be a good idea to stop here for a bit, and then we can go to America."

"That'd be great. I don't know about you, but I don't speak a word of Japanese."

There was a knock at the door, Heero promptly went over and answered it. A young brunette girl stood in the door way, she seemed to be holding a menu in her hands. "Loom Suruviso(room service)!" She said the English words with such a heavy accent Duo could barely understand her.

"Domo." Heero nodded his head, bowing it slightly.

The two carried out a quick conversation in Japanese, Duo tried to guess what they were saying by their hand movements, but he found himself at a loss.

"Woah."

Heero turned around to see Duo looking at him with a shocked expression. "What?"

"You can speak Japanese?"

"I am Japanese Duo."

"Holy crap! Why didn't you tell me?" Duo asked, surprised.

"I thought it was obvious." Heero looked at Duo, genuinely surprised that Duo hadn't figured it out.

"Well obviously not." Duo said, kind of upset that Heero was treating him like he was stupid. We'll see what happens the next time Heero needs anything fixed.

Heero just stood there. Part of him wanted to say that he was sorry, but it really was obvious that he was Japanese. Heero instead choose to start unpacking his things. His bag was small, consisting of only a couple days worth of clothing, he usually stopped at a laundry mat along the way, and some personal items. Tooth brush, hair brush, deodorant, personal things. Everything else that belonged to Heero, which wasn't much, was divided into storage units in both the colonies and scattered about the earth nation. Pilling the clothing he would need into the top drawer of the room's dresser he moved on to the bathroom to put some other things onto that room's shelves.

Duo, sighing, moved to do that same. He had just about as much stuff as Heero. When you're always on the go it's not a good idea to have a really heavy bag, especially when you walk everywhere.

Moving around the small hotel room, the two got settled, working on autopilot, each with a different question in mind.

The two sat in the rooms two wooden chairs around the small dining table in the room. "So what now?" Duo asked.

"We wait, they should be here any moment." Heero said blankly.

"Who should be here?" As if in response to Duo's question, there was a knock in on the door.

Heero rose from his seat and moved to the door, ignoring Duo's question. Opening the door, he was greeted by the still smiling face of the brunette room attendant, this time, however, she was pushing a tarnished silver try in front of her, various covered dishes cluttering the surface.

Heero moved out of the way and the girl pushed the cart into the room. Stopping by the table she bowed to Duo, who sheepishly returned the gesture, not quite sure if he was doing the right thing or not. With a similar nod towards Heero the girl left the room, Heero closing the wood door behind her as he returned to his seat at the table. On the way, he stopped by the hotel room's mini-fridge and pulled out two sodas. Though they were overpriced, there was nothing else to choose.

Moving the dishes from the cart onto the table, Heero pushed a set of cheap wooden chopsticks in Duo's direction. "Here."

The braided boy took the offered utensil. "What's going on?"

Heero raised an eyebrow at Duo. "We're having dinner."

Duo's checks reddened slightly. "Oh." Duo looked at the chopsticks in his hands and then back at Heero. "And I'm supposed to do what with these?"

"Their chopsticks, Duo, you use them to eat."

"I know that, damn it." Duo sighed. "What are we going to eat?"

Heero removed the top off of the Maxwell's plate, as the smoke cleared Duo stared at the food in front of him. "Is this... is this curry?"

"Yes." Heero removed the cover on his own plate and looked at the contents. He pushed Duo's soda towards him as the boy continued to eye the plate. "You might want that, this hotels specialty is supposed to be spicy curry."

"Spicy?" Duo asked, cringing slightly as he looked once again at the bright red sauce smothering half of his plate, it looked like lava to Duo. He could almost hear little people screaming as they ran away from the offending food that was sure to burn his tongue to a crisp.

"Yes. I thought it would be good to let your first Japanese meal be something good."

"I see, well thanks for that one pal." Duo opened his chopsticks and watched as Heero did the same. "Isn't there some weird thing that Japanese people say before eating?"

Heero looked up from his meal, slightly surprised. "Yes there is."

"What is it?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"When in Rome, do as the Roman's do." Duo quoted.

"Itadakimasu." Heero said, and then he took a bite of the curry, the heat of the food barely seeming to affect him in the slightest.

Duo gulped, before replying in a shaking voice. "Itadakimasu." The American did his best, but even he could tell his pronunciation was a bit on the off side. Duo braced himself, and then took a bite of the hot food.

-=-=-=-=-=-Time Skip-=-=-=-=-=-

For one of the first times in Heero's whole life, he actually wanted to laugh. Shortly after Duo's first bite, Heero had notice something about him had changed. His ears grew red as did his face, and his whole body went tense. Heero had tried to ask what was wrong but Duo reached forward, grabbed his own soda, chugged it down, and then reached for Heero's. After draining both the cans of drink Duo had sent a glare like no other.

"You could have told me that you didn't like spicy food." Heero fought himself as a corner of his mouth twitch, trying so desperately to make Heero's lips bend in a smile. "I would have ordered you something else.

"I told you that I don't want to cause trouble." Duo practically pouted. He hated spice food, he really did. And by the stroke of his own terrible luck Heero just happened to order the hottest item on the menu.

Heero looked at Duo a small chuckle escaping his lips. "Come on Duo, let's go to bed."

"Oh bite me Heero. You're laughing at me!" Duo face was red with embarrassment. "Screw you Heero, so what if I don't like hot food! What are you gonna do, sue me?"

As Duo ranted, Heero seemed to lose control of his face as a grin split his face and a deep laugh pulled itself from his gut. Seeing Duo's shocked expression made Heero laugh louder, the muscles in his stomach cramping. "Really Duo," Heero laughed again. "You could have told me, I wouldn't have made fun of you."

"You're laughing at me now you know." Duo folded his arms, trying to still be mad. But seeing Heero's face break into a smile had lightened his mood. He couldn't get the thought out of his head that he had heard a creaking noise when Heero's face had moved into a position of happiness not many were privy to see.

"Let's go to bed." Heero repeated himself, noting the change in Duo demeanor.

"Alright, where's my room?"

Heero looked at Duo as he lead the boy to a door on the other side of the room. "I know you probably won't be too happy about this Maxwell."

"Oh God, what is it now?"

Heero opened the door and lead Duo in after him. "I originally rented this room when I thought it would be just me. I would have rented another room but no one seemed to have any openings.

Duo was shocked, it seemed the heavens themselves wanted him to share a bed with Heero Yuy. There, before him, was a single king sized bed. "You mean there's no other place to sleep?"

"Unless you want the floor, and you know I won't let you."

Duo sighed, before moving towards the bed. "Alright, alright." The boy moved the blanket out of the way and slid his pajama clad body in between the sheets and heavy comforter that adorned the bed.

Heero moved to do the same. He looked at Duo as he got into the bed, the heat returning to his lower abdomen. "Good night, Duo." Heero said as he moved his head onto the plush pillow, looking straight at Duo.

"Good night Heero." Duo said, before closing his blue-violet eyes.

Heero listened to Duo and soon fell asleep to the other boy's breathy lullaby.

-=-=-=-=-=-Author's Note-=-=-=-=-=-

Yay, another chapter. XP

Please review, I need the encouragement. .


	4. Chapter 4

I wondered across some cool Gundam Wing pictures and then I remembered I hadn't posted in a long, long time. XD

I wanted to thank everyone for their comments, especially bb. You really made me think about how I am portraying the characters, which is one of the reasons it has taken me a while to post a new chapter. While I don't completely agree with you, I do see you point. Thank you for making me think.

As far as everyone else, thank you for your comments, you guys are the only reason I'm still writing. Thanks for all the watches to. Hopefully this story can continue to entertain you.

WARNING: THERE IS SEXUAL CONTENT IN THIS CHAPTER.

©Yakubi

**A Home To Return To**

**Chapter 04**

Heero couldn't help but think that in some weird way, he was cursed. Right now, he could have sworn on it. He was in the rented bed in the studio apartment he and Duo would be leaving today. Usually, that's not a bad place to be, but then again people didn't usually wake up entangled with the closest thing they had to a friend.

Heero wished that he could blame Duo for his current predicament. Their legs had wrapped themselves around each other and Heero had his arms around the braided boy's shoulders. Duo's arms were around Heero's waist as his head lay on Heero's chest, moving slightly up and down with every carefully measured breath Heero took. This was not the way he had pictured waking up. Sure he hadn't really thought about it but he was sure that if he had then that picture would have them both on their own sides of the bed.

"Hmmm..." Duo mumbled in his sleep as he moved, his thigh brushing against Heero's groin.

It was at that precise moment that Heero wished he was someone else and not sporting morning wood against his best friend's leg. He also wished his friend wasn't returning the favor.

"Hmm... nhh..." Duo groaned again, moving his leg against Heero again as he tried not to wake up. Heero barely stopped himself from groaning.

"Duo." Heero whispered. Heero decided that he would wake Duo up, pretend to be asleep, and wait for the Maxwell to de-tangle himself.

Duo groaned again, clearly against the idea of waking up. "Hee..."

"Duo." Heero whispered again, closely watching the breaded boy. Duo."

"Heee... roooo..." Duo's arms tightened against Heero's waist, pulling him even closer.

Heero had barely enough time to snap his eyes shut as Duo's violet orbs opened.

"Oh my..." Duo softly cursed. "Of all the ways to wake up." Duo looked up at Heero's face and found the man still sleeping. Duo found that odd, seeing at Heero was usually always up before him. Duo tried to separate his legs from Heero's, moving it slowly, he felt and heard something he never thought he would.

Heero Yuy groaned.

Duo felt his face redden as he became fully aware of the appendage pressing into his thigh. "Heero... oh my god." Duo tried to move his leg again, and got the same result, only this time Heero's leg jerked in response, creating friction against Duo's own problem. Duo gasped as stars flooded his vision, he fought against the impulse that told him to grind again Heero's leg.

Heero opened one cobalt eye and looked at Duo's face. His eyes were pinched shut and his face was red. Heero decided he should probably let Duo know that he was awake. "Good morning."

Duo's eyes snapped open to be greeted by none other than Heero Yuy's ocean orbs. "Hi." Was the only thing he seemed to be able to say.

"Do you mind?" Heero said, and looked down.

Duo instantly got the hint. "Sorry!" Duo said as he roughly pulled himself from Heero, unconsciously rubbing against Heero's very obvious problem.

"damn…it!" Heero cursed.

"I'm sorry!" Duo said, his face taking on an even brighter shade of red.

"It's fine Duo." Heero said as he got up from the bed. "I'm going to go take a shower." Heero went to the dresser, pulled out his clothes for the day, and stepped into the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind him with a clearly audibly click.

Duo was left alone with his little soldier and the image of Heero in the shower, not a good combination.

-=-=-=-=-=-Time Skip-=-=-=-=-=-

Heero let the water wash over his naked form, the liquid forming tiny rivers in the valleys of his well toned body. Heero wished that a cold shower would be enough to get his problem to go away. The brunette looked down, apparently not.

Heero moved his hand and roughly grabbed his own shaft, the friction sending tremors up his spine. Moving his hand slowly up and down he set a steady pace, randomly jerking on occasion. Soon, he had his other hand against the wall for support as his moved his hand up and down the hard flesh. Clenching his teeth, he jerked his hips forward to meet his hand, Heero was thankful the spray of the water was hiding sound of what he was doing.

Heero continued the hand job. He closed his eyes, hoping to get this over with as soon as possible.

Then, with a flash of violet-blue eyes, Heero came.

Breathing harshly, and leaning against the wall for support, Heero remembered the blue eyes he had imagined. He knew exactly who they belonged to, and was surprised and confused to find him thinking about that person while touching himself.

"Duo," Heero whispered to the heat fogged bathroom. "What are you doing to me?"

-=-=-=-=-=-Time Skip-=-=-=-=-=-

Duo waited outside of the bathroom, his clothes clutched to his chest and his face red, his mind refused to stop picturing Heero Yuy naked. Sure, he had seen the guy naked, but never with any sort of sexual purpose. Sighing, he pressed his ear to the door in hopes of hearing some clue that Heero was almost done in the shower.

The door opened and Duo had barely enough time to pull his head back before Heero walked out. A thin sheen of moisture stuck to his skin as droplets of water hung at the tips of his gravity defying hair.

"Shower's free." He said simply.

Duo nodded and entered the shower, leaving Heero alone in the room.

Heero sighed, before heading over to the phone. He had better call and make sure their flight was still on schedule. The brunette had already paid for tickets to America. Heero thought it best to get to American territory as fast as possible. It had been obvious that while Duo was fine around Heero, he had been nervous when the maid had entered the room.

It would be better for Duo's recovery if he was in an area more familiar to him. With this in mind Heero picked up the phone and started dialing the airport's number.

After going through all the 'proper' channels Heero was finally able to make sure all was in order. Heero hung up the phone and moved to pack his bags. Taking care of that quickly, Heero was left with no choice but to sit and wait for Duo.

-=-=-=-=-=-Time Skip-=-=-=-=-=-

Duo finally came out of the shower, his pants on but nothing else as the man worked at his hair with a towel. "Hey Heero, what's the plan?" The long haired boy asked, knowing that Heero would have an answer. The man was anal about 'sticking to the plan'.

"I just confirmed our tickets and I made sure we have a small place rented already."

"You did all of that in twenty minutes?" Duo knew Heero was efficient, but at this day and age finding even the smallest of places to live on Earth was a chore, it would have taken a normal person over an hour just to find a place and then you'd probably spend another hour just haggling out the price only to find out you can't buy it and then you'd be back at square one. Then again, Heero never had been the poster boy for normal.

"I also got you a doctor's appointment."

"You want me to go see a doctor? Why?"

"I can see your ribs Duo." Heero said as though that was explanation enough.

"So? Just feed me and that will go away soon enough."

"Duo." Hero looked Duo in the eyes hard, he offered no time to talk back. "With all the places you've been staying you could have any number of diseases. You are going to go to the doctor and get a physical."

Duo looked Heero in the eyes, he searched long and hard for some way to talk the other pilot out of making him go to the doctor, Heero never broke his gaze. Duo sighed, moving the towel against his hair again. He wasn't going to be able to get out of this one. The brunette tossed the towel away and moved to the bed, grabbing his hair brush along the way. Pulling his hair over his shoulder he started to work the kinks out of it.

"Let me." Duo turned, Heero was now sitting on the bed behind him.

"What?"

"Let me brush your hair for you."

"Oh, okay." Duo handed Heero the brush and turned forward. It's seemed like an odd situation to him. Then again, Heero probably only wanted to help him with this so they could get to America faster, that made perfect sense, right?

Duo felt Heero's warm hand as his hair was pulled back over his shoulder, a slight tugging informed him that Heero had started combing through the damp strands of brown hair.

"So… ah…" Duo tried to start a conversation, the situation was a little too uncomfortable for him. "What doctor are you taking me to see?"

"Quatre recommended him, his name is Dr. Tom Berret."

That was all the info Heero gave him. Knowing Heero the way he did though, Duo was pretty sure Heero had done a beyond thorough background check on the man.

Heero pulled the brush down through Duo's hair again, the action requiring the full movement of his arm to bring the brush to the end of the long strands of hair. It was starting to dry at the crown of the boy's head, the change in color was interesting. Where the hair was dry, it was a rich chestnut color, but the damp section of the hair was much darker, almost black.

Duo felt the slight tugging on his head, it was strange that it felt good to have someone else brush his hair for him. He was so used to doing it himself that he had forgotten how good it feels to have someone do it for you. Not to mention it was quite a bit easier. The situation was still kind of awkward… strangely intimate.

Heero stopped brushing. "Alright Duo, I'm done."

Duo looked over his shoulder. "Thanks buddy." The brunette flashed a grin. Duo reached behind him and started to braid, his fingers working deftly in a pattern they had long since memorized. Duo had quite a lot of hair, but even so it took him less than a minute until his hair was bound back into the familiar and neat braid it was accustomed to. "So," Duo looked back at Heero, who was still sitting on the bed behind him. "Shall we get ready to leave?"

Heero stood and began helping Duo pack his things, this being answer enough to Duo's question.

-=-=-=-=-=-Time Skip-=-=-=-=-=-

Duo and Heero made their way onto a crowded passenger plane. After the two had finished packing, they had stopped to eat a light breakfast before making their way to the Japanese airport to board their flight. The plane was a slightly older model, so it was a bit smaller than the larger commercial planes the two had become used to seeing around.

"Excuse me." Duo said as he turned sideways and inched through the seats until he reached his own. He sat down heavily after putting his bag into the over head compartment.

Heero stretched to push his carry-on bag into the over head compartment, his shirt moving up to reveal a stripe of skin that Duo's eyes didn't miss. Heero sat down.

"So…" Duo said, trying to start a conversation with his taciturn companion.

Heero just looked back at his, a single eyebrow slightly raised.

"I'm trying to start a conversation with you to help pass the time but I'm coming up blank as far as a subject." Duo smiled nervously.

Heero looked at Duo for a minute longer. "…What have you been doing since the last time we met?"

Duo was surprised that Heero actually seemed to want to talk to him, he didn't want to let it go to waste. "Well, you know that I've been wondering around preaching, but other than that I haven't really been doing much. What about you?"

"I haven't been doing anything but wondering either."

Duo chuckled. "Seems as though there's nothing left for people like us since the war ended." Duo looked up at Heero, for once seeing emotion in those eyes, one that mirrored his own feelings. Loneliness, as well as purposelessness. "Oh well, I'm sure we'll find something to do with ourselves eventually, after all, if there's one thing humans can do it's adapt."

"Piloting is really the only skill I have." Heero said simply.

For some reason, that plain statement sounded so strange. "Well, you could always go into construction, they still used mobile suits for tools."

Heero nodded. "What about you?"

"Me? I'll probably start working in the salvage business again. I used to have a job like that when I was staying in the colonies during the war."

"That makes sense. From what I've seen you're a decent mechanic."

A compliment… from Heero. Well, a half-compliment, but it still meant something. Duo smiled. "Thanks."  
Heero said nothing. It seemed as though that was the end of their conversation, but it had been longer than most. That was defiantly progress.

Duo looked over at Heero again. The other male had his arms crossed again his chest and his head was tipped forward slightly, his eyes closed as his chest rose and fell with the steady breath of someone who was deep asleep. Duo smiled, it was just like Heero to fall asleep right after talking to someone. Duo sighed, with nothing else to do, he leaned back in his chair and waited for sleep to take him as well.

-=-=-=-=-=-Time Skip-=-=-=-=-=-

"Attention all passengers," The loud speaker blared, the sound waking both Heero and Duo. "Please remember to take all of your possessions with you as you exit the plane. We are not responsible for lost or stolen possessions. Thank you for flying with us, we look forward to you next trip."

Heero and Duo were sure to take their carry-on bags as they got off the plane. Both were a bit sore from sleeping in the airline chairs, but all in all they felt pretty good, both of them were happy to be back on the ground.

"So, Heero," Duo said as they made their way out of the air port. "What hotel will we be staying at this time?"

"I'm taking you to the doctor first." Heero said dryly.

"You're really not going to let me get out of that are you?"

"No."

Duo sighed, he knew full well that there was absolutely nothing that he could do. "Alright, alright."

Duo once again followed Heero. The two made their way through crowds of people and crossed many streets, Duo was sure he heard Heero grumble about how Americans drove. After the two had walked are about 45 minutes, Heero stopped in front of what looked like a small clinic.

"So this is the place?" Heero nodded in response to Duo's question. "When you said he was a friend of Quatre's I figured we'd be going to some big decked out hospital." Duo shut up as they walking through the doors.

Though the outside of the clinic looked a bit on the shabby side, the inside was more like Duo had imagined. Stark while linoleum squeaked quietly under their feet as they walked inside, the place was very bright. Light blue walls, bright lights and fake flowers dotted the room.

Heero walked to the front desk as Duo just took in the sights.

"Excuse me." He said simply to the man sitting at the front desk. "I have an appointment."

The man looked down at the computer in front of him. "Heero Yuy?"

"Yes."

The man stood up. He had a sort of dirty blond hair color and hazel eyes, he was much bigger that both of the boys, though not in the sense of being fat. The man seemed to be in great physical shape. He smiled, small dimples on his face. "My name is Dr. Tom Berret, nice to meet you two."

Duo seemed a little shocked. 'Why were you doing the secretary's job?"

"Oh, I don't have a secretary."

"A swanky place like this and you don't have one? Do you at least have a nurse?"

"Oh, I have a nurse, but that's all I can afford, I'm non-profit. I'm sure you noticed that this neighborhood is pretty bad, so I provide free services." The man walked out from behind the counter. "Follow me." Heero and Duo followed the man as he led them farther into the back of the clinic. "Seeing as you're friends of Quatre's I'll be sure to be extra careful." Dr. Berret laughed.

Duo just shuddered.

-=-=-=-=-=-Time Skip-=-=-=-=-=-

Heero sat still in the waiting room, trying his best to be patient. It had been almost an hour since Duo had gone into one of the back rooms with Dr. Berret for his physical. Heero knew that it was going to take a while, but he couldn't stop the boredom from nagging at him. Heero sighed, there was a table full of magazines next to him, but he had already gone through them and read all of the interesting stories.

Finally, Dr. Berret came out from the back area and looked to Heero, he had a concerned look on his face.

Heero stood up, and then turned to face the doctor. "How did it go?"

"Well," Berret shook his head. "he's not in bad condition, but he's not doing too well either. He's pretty undernourished, but he doesn't seem to be sick. Luckily for him, all he'll need to do is to start eating better and he'll be fine. Unfortunately I can't help you when it comes to actually getting the food."

"Don't worry about that." Heero said with a sense of finality. "He'll be living with me until he gets better. Just write me out some of the things I need to keep in mind and I'll take it from there."

"That's good to know." The doctor went behind his desk and clicked a few times on his computer before the printer next to it whirred to life. Taking the paper the machine had just spit out, the man handed it to Heero. "That's about as best as I can do, hopeful it will help." The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bottle, which he also handed to Heero. "This is a multi-vitamin, see to it he takes one of these a day until they're all gone, it should help him get healthier faster."

"Alright, thank you."

"No problem."

At this point, Duo walked around the corner, as small blush painted across his cheeks. "You sir, are horrible." He looked at the doctor, but Heero could see the sides of his mouth twitching with mirth.

"Oh, don't be that way." Berret wrapped his arm around the braided boy's shoulders. "All the ladies beg me to take them back into the exam room."

Heero felt a twinge of jealousy, but he let it fade.

"Hey Heero." Duo said cheerily. "The doc here," He elbowed the man in the side. The doctor retreated with a smile. "says I'm all good to go. Nothing to worry about as long as I get something to eat.'"

"Alright, we should get going then." Heero turned to Dr. Berret. "Thank you again." He bowed his head slightly.

"No problemo, just let me know if you two need anything else."

With a wave from Duo, the two brown haired boys left the charity clinic, both of them feeling a little better knowing that Duo wasn't in any danger.

As the two walked down the street, Duo turned to look at Heero out of the corner of his eye. It had been two years, and yet the other had barely seemed to change at all, still as aloof as ever. Yet, Duo couldn't help but think he had become a bit friendlier. Not towards other people, but towards Duo specifically. Duo let a small smile come to his lips at that thought. Maybe, finally, he could learn more about Heero. The boy had always fascinated him, now was his chance to be nosy and get a little info and what Heero's life was really like.

"So where are we off to now?" Duo said as he shoved his hands into his pockets. It was a little chilly outside, not enough to merit a jacket, but just enough to chill your finger tips.

"I have a small house I thought we could stay at." Heero said this plainly, he knew the other boy would want to know more, but he just didn't feel like actually saying it.

"You own a house, here, in America?" Duo said this with utter disbelief. Getting a house here was one of the most difficult things he could imagine, America was bursting at the seams with people.

"Yes, it's not very big, but it should work just fine for the two of us."

"Please tell me it has two bedrooms." Duo wasn't sure if he meant that or not, but it would certainly save him from a large chunk of future embarrassments.

"The couch works as a futon, so I'll be sleeping there."

"Wait a second. It's your house, shouldn't I be the one taking the futon?"

Heero sighed. Duo really needed to pay more attention. "You're not fully healthy yet Duo, so I'll be sleeping on the futon. When you get better then you can talk about me taking the bed."

Duo almost looked like he was pouting. 'It just doesn't seem right to me. I'm fine with the futon. I've slept in much worse conditions."

"I'm sure you have. But the point of you staying with me is to get you healthy, not make you worse."

Duo really, really wanted to pout. He knew what that tone meant, in a nutshell Heero was saying 'this conversation is over and you will do what I say.' Duo couldn't think of anything to say that could possibly change the taciturn pilot's mind. "Alright," Duo raised his hands in an exaggerated sign of surrender. "Have it your way."

Heero said nothing. For some reason, he was feeling a little irritated, but as far as he knew, he didn't have anything to be irritated about. Something about Duo's presence was grating on his nerves, but he refused to show it. Duo didn't deserve being harassed just because he was having a bad day.

The two made their way through the endless streets, twisting and turning, Duo following Heero's lead like it was second-nature. He personally had no idea where they were going, but he trusted Heero enough to feel confident that the other pilot knew what he was doing and where he was going. A dwindling steam of people flowed to the sides of the two boys, the hum of the city created a sort of background music, though Heero seemed to ignore the beat of the city and walk to his own pace. Duo was shamelessly rubbernecking at ever thing that he passed, everything from people, to neon signs and different shops caught his eye. He would be living here for the while, the least he could do was try to get a bit better acquainted with the area he was in. Still, the amount of stuff to look at was mindboggling, America had changed since his last visit. Duo was a colonist through and through, but during his few trips to Earth he had really enjoyed going to America, seeing as his colony was of American decent, it was almost like being home.

However, with the Earth now being borderless, different kinds of people lived here now, a little bit of everything could be found. It was kind of sad to see the culture losing its footing, but it was nice to see that different people could get along no matter where they were from. Duo let a small smile form on his lips as he thought of this. Not long ago, it was every country for themselves, each and every one of them power hungry and bloodthirsty. Though different, things had defiantly changed for the better.

"We're here." Heero's voice shook Duo from his thoughts.

"Oh," Duo looked up at the house. It was indeed small, as Heero had said, but it would accommodate both of them easily enough. "awesome."

Heero looked away from the bright boy and fished around in his pockets, pulling out a set of keys, he unlocked the door and went inside, the braided boy following and closing the door behind him. As Heero went about unpacking his bags, Duo took his time to look around the house.

To the right of the door was a small kitchen, the only thing separating it from the living room was a counter. The counter was white with a sink inlaid in it. Across from it was a series of cabinets as well was a stove, refrigerator and a microwave. The living room had a couch and a small wooden table painted black in front of it, both objects facing a mid-sized plasma TV. A single hallway exited the room. On the right side of the hallway was the bathroom. Inside was a sizable tub, which Duo was surprised by, Heero didn't seem like the type to like taking baths, defiantly a fast shower type. Across from the bathroom was a small laundry room, neatly organized. Further down the hall was the bedroom. Duo walked into it and set his bag on the king-sized bed. The room was a dull grey color, the only furniture being the bed, a small table next to it with a lamp on it and a dresser.

Duo looked over to see Heero loading the dresser with his clothes. "I'm taking the two bottom drawers," Heero said as he shoved a shirt into one of the drawers before standing up. "you can use the top two."

"Alright." Duo said cheerily. It would be nice to use a dresser for once, he had been living out of his bag for so long it seemed like forever since the last time he had truly unpacked.

-=-=-=-=-=-Author's Note-=-=-=-=-=-

Damn throw away characters. XD

Oh well, in real life we often come across people we only see once, so I guess it's not too bad of a thing to have characters like that. Maybe I can use the doc later, who knows?

Please leave a review. ^.^


	5. Chapter 5

What is going on? Two updates in two days? I know, right?

starless-ocean: Sorry about the typos. .

I will try to keep the men/boys thing more consistent. For reference, they are 19 in this story, so I feel they are kind of in the middle ground of adult and child, so it's hard to settle on one. So, I will try to not use those two words in the same paragraph at least. As far as the brunette thing, I will also try to work on that, need to find more describing words. XD

Thanks very much for the reviews, I appreciate them. ^.^

Cuzosu: Fast enough for you? I can't promise an update every day, but I will try to be quicker. ^.^

©Yakubi

**A Home To Return To**

**Chapter 05**

Dear God the house was boring. Duo sighed heavily as he reclined on the couch. It had been a month since he and Heero had started living together and things had gone much the way he expected. They cleaned the house every Thursday, mostly picking up snack wrappers from Duo's late night cravings. Friday was laundry day and Monday was grocery day. It was horribly ordinary and never off schedule.

Duo sighed again, he had no idea what Heero was doing, so he contented himself by watching TV or exercising. 250 channels and there was nothing good to watch, it was utterly ridicules. He needed to convince Heero to let him by a game console or something, anything to get his mind off of how boring life seemed to be. Duo knew a pet was out of the question, but asking for a play station or something couldn't hurt, right?

The door opened and Duo turned to see Heero coming in, wiping his grease covered hands off on a rag. "I finally got the truck running." Heero was referring to the old, beat-up red pick-up that had been decorating their lawn for over a week. Heero had bought it at dirt cheap figuring that if they were going to be here for a while they should have a steady mode of transportation. Of course, vehicles were now purely electric, it didn't mean they couldn't break down though.

"That's great, maybe now we can go somewhere other than the super market."

"What do you mean?"

Duo turned his body so that he was kneeling on the couch, his elbows over the back. "I mean somewhere fun." Heero continued to give him a blank stare. "Like an amusement park, or maybe we can visit Quatre, or something!"

"…are you saying you're bored?" Heero raised an eyebrow questioningly at his braided companion.

"Yes!" Duo nearly cried, his hands going up to fist in his hair. Over-exaggeration was one of the few entertainments left to him. "I'm going crazy here, it's the same thing every week, over and over and over again!"

"I guess I can find something for you to do."

"Please, no more cleaning. I smell like Lysol."

Heero felt his face soften. "Maybe I should buy you a game system."

"That. Would. Be. AWESOME. I was just thinking about that."

Heero smiled a little. Duo really was like a child, but at least he was mature enough not to throw temper tantrums.

"You know, I've also been thinking about getting a job."

Heero tuned back to look at Duo. "What for?"

Duo moved his hands in front of himself. "Don't get me wrong, I have everything I need. It's just I feel kinda guilty relying on you like this." Duo tried to put on his best puppy face. "I just want to know that I'm helping a bit."

"Alright, it's fine by me." Heero moved into the kitchen, getting himself a glass of water. "Any idea what you want to do?"

"Nope!" Duo smiled widely. "I'll just take a look around and see what I can find. Oh, and I was serious about visiting Quatre, it would be nice to see Trowa to."

"I'll see what I can do." Heero said again.

Duo smiled. "So… do you have any ideas about places that are hiring?"

Heero looked at Duo, so much for not relying on him for everything. "I have a laptop you can use to look for a job." Heero said plainly.

"You've got a laptop?" Heero said nothing. "Why didn't you tell me?" Duo tried to stare Heero down.

"You never asked." Really, the boy should have learned by now, if you want something you have to ask for it. Heero walked through the hallway and into the bedroom. After fishing around in his drawers he finally found the laptop. Heero walked back into the living room with the electronic device, he dropped the item into the braided boy's lap. "Happy job hunting." He said before he walked back outside, grabbing a clean cloth from the kitchen on his way out.

Duo pouted, before turning on the laptop. It took a little time, but after he finally figured out how to get the wireless internet to work he found a job he thought suited him.

-=-=-=-=-=-Time Skip-=-=-=-=-=-

Duo practically bounced into work, a smile stretching his lips across his teeth. He greeted his boss, a small woman with pale skin, short brown hair and green eyes whose name was Carrie. He was two inches taller than her, and loved reminding her of it.

She looked down her nose at him. "What do you want Maxwell?"

"Oh, nothing." Duo put his hands behind his back and rocked on his feet, his smile only widening. "Can't I just come in here and say hello?"

"We both know that that's not why you're here, so spit it out, what do you want?"

"I was wondering if I could have a week vacation? Heero and I are gonna go visit some old friends."

Carrie sighed. She was the owner of a small fix-it business, basically, if anything broke they would fix it or find someone who could. Though he had only been working for her for three weeks Duo was already one of her best workers, he seemed to be able to fix anything mechanical. Carrie looked at him, he was practically begging…. and he did deserve a little vacation… the woman sighed again. "Alright, you can have your week."

"Yay!" Duo grabbed the woman and twirled her around before setting her back on the ground. "Thank you so much!"

The woman looked slightly disheveled, but otherwise alright. "Just get out of here already, and tell Heero I said hello."

"I will!" The boy hurried out of the shop, the little bell over the door ringing almost to tell him good bye as he left.

-=-=-=-=-=-Time Skip-=-=-=-=-=-

The windows were rolled down to half mast and the radio mumbled some old song that neither of the car's occupants knew, and yet Duo still tried to hum along. Heero expression never changed as they drove miles and miles in their beat-up red pick-up. Duo stared out the window and Heero stared at the road. Part of Duo wanted to pull the "are we there yet?" routine, but he thought better of it. All of the driving games Duo had tried had turned out to be failures, Heero was too good at the license plate game and playing slug-bug with him was torture.

Duo sighed. "How far away are we from Quatre's?"

"97 miles." Heero answered quickly.

"Oh God…" Duo tossed his head back. "This is going to take forever!"

"Only a few more hours, I'm sure you'll be fine."

Though there was nothing innately wrong with the statement, Duo somehow got the vibe that Heero was tired and feeling a little grumpy. Considering how much time he had spent with the man it was no surprise that he was getting better at reading his moods. Duo felt slightly depressed that while he could now read that man much better than he had before, he still didn't really know anything about Heero. He really wanted to ask, but he also figured that Heero wouldn't tell him. Duo reached over and rolled up the window, the wind was starting to bother him, it made the little hairs that avoided his braid tickle his face and irritate his eyes. "So… do you think we can come up with something to talk about this time?" Heero said nothing. "I like to talk on long trips, I think it helps to pass the time."

"…I can't think of anything to talk about."

Duo looked at Heero, that statement seemed rather out of character for him. "Um… hey, what is your favorite color?"

Heero looked at him for a second, his eyebrows slightly pulled together. "Why does that matter?"

Screw it, Duo thought, there was no better time than now to try and learn something about his mysterious companion. "I want to know more about you Heero. We have been living together for a couple months and I still don't really know anything about you."

"It's green."

"What?"

"My favorite color is green."

Duo smiled. "Mine's blue."

"Why is it important for you to know things about me?"

"Well, I suppose it's just curiosity, but I want to know you better."

"I think you can know a lot about a person by what they do, rather than what they've done."

Heero was being uncharacteristically talkative, and there was no way Duo was going to pass it up. "Well, I agree with you, but at the same time knowing someone else's past can help you understand what made them who they are today. Yes, you can get along with someone perfectly fine without knowing anything specific about them, but I think that when you do know those kind of things you can truly understand that person, as well as their motivations."

"You are being strangely well-spoken today Duo."

Duo blushed a little at the comment. "There's nothing wrong with speaking your mind." The braided boy said with a small pout.

"Where are you from?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I want to know more about you to." Heero kept his eyes on the road. Something about Duo was really changing him, just a few years ago he could have cared less what would happen to the other boy, and now he was actually asking him about his personal life.

Duo looked up at the ceiling of the vehicle. Maybe if he shared than Heero would reciprocate? "I'm from the L2 colony." Duo paused, he didn't think this was important, he didn't even really feel like talking about it. But then again Heero probably felt even left like talking about his past than Duo did. "I grew up on the streets with no name, until I met a boy, he was a couple years older than me, he just started calling me Duo." Duo laughed a little at the memory. "Then I ended up at the Maxwell Church." Duo looked at Heero again, the boy was still eyeballing the road. "That's where I got my last name. After a while I ended up leaving there. I got caught as a stowaway on Professor G's ship and the rest is history." Alright, so he wasn't telling Heero everything, maybe later? Okay he was being a bit hypocritical… whatever.

"I was an orphan as well. I lived on the streets and mostly stole what I needed. After a while I got taken in as an apprentice to an assassin, his name was Odin Lowe. He taught me how to live. He abandoned me three years after he picked me up when he died attempting an assassination."

Duo looked at Heero. The boy's expression hadn't changed once while he told his story. For some reason, it made sense, but the way Heero had said it made it seem like it didn't even matter. It was strange that someone could be so unattached to their own past. Duo was also pretty sure that while Heero hadn't used the greatest amount of detail he hadn't really left anything out. Duo felt guilty, seeing as he had admitted much of his story. "Heero-"

"Don't worry about it." Heero cut the other boy off. "You get emotional easily, it's alright if you don't tell me everything about yourself. I already told you that I don't think it's important."

Duo suddenly felt like being quiet. He wanted to talk, but he couldn't think of anything else to say. Heero was right, it shouldn't matter. And yet, it bothered him that while he had only told half truths, Heero had told him everything. He trusted him, and Duo had instinctively doubted him.

Heero, in his own way, was telling Duo that he trusted him. Duo felt like he should apologize. He and Heero were friends, they had trusted each other with their lives, and yet he had had trouble telling Heero about the life he had saved. "Heero I'm-"

"We're here." Heero stopped the car and pulled out the keys opening the truck door. "Come on." He said as he got out, shutting the door roughly behind him.

"What do you mean?" Duo tried to say, but Heero was already walking away from the vehicle. All Duo could see out of his window was country side. He got out of the car anyways. "Heero…" Duo stopped speaking. Just off the side of the road, down a bit of a hill, was an enormous graveyard. Row after row of clean white tombstones stretched on for what seemed like forever. "Heero, what is this?"

"It's one of the Eve Wars Memorial Graveyards."

Duo had read about the memorial graveyards. In nearly every country, there was a graveyard so that all the soldiers that had fought and died for their beliefs in the war could be left to rest in peace in their homes. It seemed as though billions of people had died, hundreds of graves dotted the world, all of those lives lost in mere days. "Why are we here?"

Heero continued to look across the graveyard. "We are responsible for most of the people here Duo, I figured it would be proper if we stopped and paid our respects."

This sort of sentimentality was something Duo had never expected to see from Heero. Being the soldier he was, Duo felt almost no guilt for his actions during the war, when you hold a weapon and run towards your enemy you should be prepared to die, that's just how things are. Yes, he had taken lives, yes he felt sad over it, but he didn't really let himself get sucked into the guilt. Still, here was Heero, as stoic as ever, taking the time to stop by the graves of soldiers that hadn't even been on the same side as he was. It was a strange touch of humanity from the usually alienating man.

Duo stepped up to Heero's side, he looked at the graves, his eyes stopping for a moment on many of them, he couldn't see any of the names carved on the stones, but he remembered some of the voices he had heard over the radio in his gundam. He remembered the arrogance of some, and the panic of others. Duo felt like his skin was shrinking, for the first time he truly realized just how small he was, just how small everyone else was. They had been fighting for what they had believed was right, and all of them had taken lives. Though the moral dilemma would never go away, Duo couldn't help but feel that, while they hadn't done the right thing, they hadn't done the wrong thing either. "We really did change things, didn't we?"

Heero thought about the question. In the grand scheme of things, not much had truly changed, yes the governments were different and people seemed happier, but in the end there would always be some small discontent. Eventually the corrupt would come into power again and the weak would look on in fear as they desperately looked for a way to fight back without risking their lives. In the end, there was no way to avoid that there would be another war, another time where murder was hated, and yet considered normal. In the long run, they had changed nothing, but right now, things seemed better. Heero didn't look at Duo. "Yeah." He felt like he was lying in some way, and yet he didn't want to tell Duo how he really felt, something told him it would hurt Duo to learn that this war had been like every other one, eventually meaningless.

Duo's eyes continued to look out over the graves at the sun set, the golden light seemed to set the stones ablaze. A red outline that reminded Duo of the blood that had been spilt outlined every grave, and the purple forming in the sky reminded him of the rot. It was beautiful, in a way. Like watching something grow and fall to ruin.

Finally the two boys turned away from the graves and moved back to the car, each taking in physical cues from the other. Fastening their seatbelts, Heero turned the key in the ignition and waited for the car to come to life, the small vibrations of the engine echoing through the whole frame of the vehicle. Slowly, they began to move, the wheels gaining traction on the road and propelling them forward.

-=-=-=-=-=-Time Skip-=-=-=-=-=-

The sun had set hours ago, the radio was now the only thing keeping Heero company as he drove through the night. Duo leaned against the window of the car in sleep. The lines on the road disappeared beneath the tires on Heero's truck, he pressed on the gas pedal a little harder than necessary. He was speeding, and he knew it, but Heero figured that out here, it's didn't really matter.

Heero glanced at Duo. The braded boy's head nodded back and forth against the window, his mouth was slightly parted and his chest rose and fell evenly. Heeo had always been a little puzzled by Duo's behavior. The boy called himself the God of Death, he had killed just as many people as he had, and yet Duo still seemed to have some sort of innocence. He laughed and joked easily, getting on with nearly everyone, that was something Heero just couldn't do. Though in general he didn't want to be that sort of person, some small part of him wondered, if he hadn't been raised to be a murderer, could he have been that way to? Could he have laughed and smiled at everything, cracking jokes at every turn? It didn't seem right to him, it didn't seem to fit him at all, and yet sometimes he thought about what he could have been if he hadn't been an assassin.

"Nnnn…" Duo groaned on the seat next to him.

Heero glanced at the boy again, keeping one eye on the road. He looked like he was dreaming, then again Duo also seemed to have a predisposition to sleep talking. The boy's eyebrows pinched slightly, his mouth coming closed to form a sort of grimace. He must be waking up, though he didn't seem to like to idea.

Heero pulled over to the side of the road. With his foot on the brake he reached over and pulled Duo's seatbelt so it was behind him, before gently pulling the boy's body towards him, laying the brunette's head on his lap. He moved his foot back to the gas and started driving again.

Duo slept peacefully at that point, his legs curling up on the seat.

Heero didn't know why he did was he did. It didn't make any sense. Maybe if Duo stayed asleep he could save himself from the endless chatter, and yet he knew that wasn't the reason he had done it. It went against everything he had learned, and yet… Heero couldn't ignore that fact that he was starting to actually care about the other boy. Sure, he hadn't wanted him to die during the war, he was an asset at that point, but right now, Duo had nothing to offer him but company. It didn't make any sense, and yet he couldn't ignore what he was feeling. Heero was generally starting to care about Duo, from what he was doing to how he was doing. It worried him.

-=-=-=-=-=-Time Skip-=-=-=-=-=-

Duo felt very comfortable, and even to his sleep drunken mind it seemed odd, seeing as he knew that he was sleeping in the truck. Slowly, he realized he was sleeping on his side and that his head was on something somewhat soft, but also… boney? Duo opened his eyes, the light outside brightening the entire cab of the truck. Right in front of him was the steering wheel, which meant he was sleeping on Heero's lap. Duo looked up, Heero was still driving. "Heero?"

Heero glanced down quickly. "Yes?"

"Have you been driving all night?"

"Yes."

Duo moved to get up, we was a little sore, but he managed. It was a little bit strange, he and Heero had slept in the same bed but something about this situation seemed somehow to be more intimate. "Do you want me to take over?" Seeing as Heero had been driving for over twelve hours, the other boy had to be tired.

"Sure, but I think that would be a waste of time."

Duo felt himself get a bit angry. "Why?" He halfway snapped the word.

"Because we're here." Heero pressed down the gas pedal slightly as he turned the car down the large entrance way leading to Quatre's current residence.

"Oh…" Duo felt a bit stupid, he hadn't even realized that they had been in town, his mind was too busy thinking about the way Heero had reacted to take in his surroundings.

The pathway leading up to the house/mansion was paved with a white and grey stone and lined with trees, the bright greenery seemed to fit Quatre. The building was too big to be a house, but too small to be a mansion, but it managed to look regal none the less. It was a brick house with white pillars, the different colors brightening one another.

Heero pulled around to the back of the house, a few cars were there already so he just pulled in next to one. He pulled the keys out and shoved them in his pocket before unbuckling his seatbelt and getting out of the truck. He glanced at Duo again, the boy almost looked like he was pouting, before he too got out of the truck. The two boys reached into the back of the truck and grabbed their bags. They were planning to stay a few days, but they didn't really have much, both of them tended to pack on the light side. Making their way back around to the front of the house, Heero knocked on the door.

"Hello?" A voice sounded that both of the boy's knew as Trowa slowly opened the door.

"Hey!" Duo said cheerfully. "Long time no see buddy!"

Trowa opened the door fully to let the two boys in, each of them maneuvering their bags so as not to hit one another.

A painting and a vase of flowers brightened the room. There was a door on either side as well as two stair ways that led up to the second floor, a double door at the top of the stairs. The room was very symmetrical.

"I'll show you your rooms before I go get Quatre. He'll want to talk to you for quite a while." Trowa said, before he started making his way up the right set of stairs, the two boys on his heels. At the top, he took a right into a hallway, after a few feet he stopped and pointed to two of the doors in the hallway. "These will be your rooms, please let Quatre and I know if you need anything." He pointed to another door. "That's the bathroom."

Heero walked to the farther door while Duo took the close one. Duo walked inside his room. There was a small desk in the room along with a dresser, end table, and a king sized bed. Over all, it was better than a hotel. Duo dropped his bag on the floor before walking back out into the hallway to meet both Heero and Trowa.

-=-=-=-=-=-Author's Note-=-=-=-=-=-

Yay~.

You didn't think I'd leave out the other pilots, now did you? XP

Please leave a review. ^.^


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